El Dorado Royale (EDR) Brides - POST HERE!

You crack me up! I have yet to get that moment yet. We've been engaged since last June but I've only ordered one decoration so far. Probably won't hit me til like September!

ok - I know you ladies will appreciate this bit of silliness: I got my personalized hanger today that says "mrs. moore". i got all giddy and teary eyed at the same time. holy crap! I'm going to be mrs moore in 6 months!!! I say silly b/c we've been engaged since last July. I have my dress, I've even done a fitting. I have a pile of wedding stuff (including the invites) in my craft room. but yet, that darn hanger is "the moment" when it all became real. :thewave: what was the moment for you guys?? is it just me..?

OK girls... so now that I'm further into the planning, i went back and read through a lot of your posts to make sure I'm not redundant in asking for advice!! This is kind of long, so bear with me, but I want to give you just a little background on everything so you kind of know where I'm coming from.

I'm guessing we're going to have somewhere around 30-40 guests. I'm still trying to get my FI to make sure I've included all of his friends that he wants, but he's a bit slow. Part of the reason for us choosing a DW was that we are both pretty casual people, and neither of us had any interest in spending the $30-40K for one night that all of my friends (ok not them, but their parents!!) have been spending. We have far too much going on and too many goals we are trying to accomplish to consider something like that. We both have very small families (mostly will be just our moms and a couple other relatives each), so it is mostly going to be our friends, who are all also pretty easy going, super fun partiers. All of our guests live in the surrounding towns from us, so it's not really a convenience thing or anything. One contributing factor was that a bunch of us were talking about trying to coordinate a vacation in January anyway, and it kind of got me thinking about how much fun it woudl be for one last hurrah for alllll of us to go on one big vacation together, since we're right on the cusp of the life stage where everyone starts having kids! ...I think one of my bridesmaids will be pregnant during the trip, but she said she'd make sure to coordinate when she ummm concieves lol so that it lines up right and she can still fly to Mexico.

when i first thought DW, I had pictured a super small event, but the more we've talked about it, the more friends we've realized will be able to come. I'm used to just the nromal weddings wiht 200 or so people, so I hadn't really even considered a DJ or private reception because I thought our group was too small. I had just kind of figured since it was DW it must just be casual and we do the wedding, go to dinner, and then find somewhere else to continue the party after!

So... I am trying to figure out the details of receptions and what not. I am using Sarah from Beach Bum Vacations who has been great.... by booking with her, we'll get a free welcome party, so I don't have to worry about that. I'm pretty sure we are going to pass on the Casitas and just pay for the Pearl wedding package... since we haven't ever done this type of vaca, I'm thinking we're going to be pretty impressed even with the royale suites, and will be just as happy there. It says that dinner reservations are included, but then I've also read about some of the different private reception choices, and that you can save that reservation for another night (i.e. rehersal night or something).

Now that I've read through so much of your stuff, I'm feeling like maybe I should have a private reception... The prices really aren't too bad to add on a private reception... I'm thinking maybe another $1000 for 30 guests, does that sound right or am I way off? But then... if I do the private reception, I'll want to extend the photography hours, add a DJ and god knows what other costs, so I just can't decide if it's worth it! I've never been to an all inclusive resort, but knowing my friends, I don't know if we'd have more fun hanging out just hte 30 or so of us, or if it would be just as much fun to just head to Guacamayas or wherever and have our own little party there?

You girls seem like you've figured out most of your details, so maybe you can help me sort through my prorities and make some of the decisions that you have already made??

ok - I know you ladies will appreciate this bit of silliness: I got my personalized hanger today that says "mrs. moore". i got all giddy and teary eyed at the same time.

holy crap! I'm going to be mrs moore in 6 months!!! I say silly b/c we've been engaged since last July. I have my dress, I've even done a fitting. I have a pile of wedding stuff (including the invites) in my craft room. but yet, that darn hanger is "the moment" when it all became real.

what was the moment for you guys?? is it just me..?

My moment was putting on my dress for the first time. It was very emotional. My best friend didn't help, lol.

Another one was when we were getting ready my brother joined us girls (he was walking me down th aisle) and as soon as he came in he said " Sister you look beautiful" I want to cry thinking about it. All of the girls were crying and it didn't help me one bit. At that time I just put my Mascara and false lashes on. lol, I was a mess. Can't wait to see pics from the photographer on that.